Philter
by Lady Sue
Summary: When the marriage law interrupts both Hermione and Severus' lives, they have a struggle as the try to find a way to find love. my first fic!
1. Chapter 1

Hello dear soon to be reader. Thank you for stumbling onto my humble little fiction. Before you proceed (and possibly complain) I should inform you that this is my first fiction, is a romance between Hermione Granger and Severus Snape, is Alternate Universe in the fact that Snape is a pureblood and that he is alive, having survived Nagini's bite, it is a marriage fic (hence the reason for changing Snape's lineage), and is probably not the most creative piece of work you will/have ever read.

I estimate Severus to be thirty eight. I'm not completely sure but here is my math -

At 17 Severus joins voldy. Not long after, I'm going to guess around 20, the Potters were killed

At this time, Harry is a baby.

So add 20 to Harry's current age (17) and you get thirty seven

Give or take a few months I make it 38.

With that said, I plan to post twice a week, once on Monday and once on Thursday. I am writing this fic as I go so there are no guarantees. Thanks for reading. (: Hope to see your reviews.

--x--

Severus Snape's eyes snapped awake and he quickly gauged the situation around him. He could smell down feathers, his cologne, and the scent of beef where the odor of his meal from the night before had permeated some of the fabric in his private rooms. Severus instantly came to the conclusion that he was in his room, safe and sound. He had gone through the same routine every morning for the past twenty years, but for the past three months it had been highly unnecessary.

Three months ago, Harry Potter had killed off the dark lord, much to the pleasure of Severus and the rest of the wizarding world. Nagini had bitten him during the final battle and had thankfully missed his vocal chords and jugular. His voice functioned fine and he was still alive but he did have a pretty unattractive scar on his neck. "Add it to the list" he thought ruefully. His entire body was covered in scars from his work as a spy. The scar on his neck, however, he was incredibly sensitive about.

Severus rose from the bed that had been his for what seemed like an eternity and began to brush his teeth methodically. It was nice to be able to do this every day, where as when Voldemort was around, he never knew what mornings he would be laying in a cave broken and bleeding somewhere and dental hygiene was the last concern. But since he had the opportunity daily, his teeth had turned white and shiny, much to the approval of those forced to interact with him on a daily basis. After he was done with his teeth, he brushed a comb through his lank raven hair and then used a shaving spell to get rid of yesterday's growth.

He then approached his walk in closet. It was unimpressive. One wall held a bunch of identical white button up long sleeve shirts, one his black pants, the other his cloaks. It was unimpressive and the only color that was present in the closet was the green of his dress robes and the robe he wore to quidditch games. The closet wasn't even half full. His nightshirts were folded neatly in a dresser in his room. He selected one thing from each of the shelves and grabbed his dragon hide boots to go get dressed in his bedroom.

His room was exactly what one would expect from the head of Slytherin, decorated in green and silver. All of his furniture was made out of dark, presumably mahogany, wood. His room was spacious and not many personal items lay strewn around. When you pondered it, it was actually quite depressing. He was dressed in not much time, in his traditional garb and walked into his living room which was decorated much like his bedroom. He then walked into his private office to grab the essays he graded last night, walked through the door to his class office then another into his classroom.

He surveyed the room for a moment, glad that it was immaculate like it should be due to the detention last night, set the essays on his desk, and departed, bound for the great hall. Despite his heavy footwear, Severus made no noises as he made his way through the cobblestone hallways alone. Alone. Severus was always and would always be alone. He didn't care. After his closest friend, if you could call him that, had been killed by his own hand, Severus didn't talk to anyone but Minerva about anything personal. The old hen was like his mother these days, always worrying about him. Effectively, she had taken Albus' place in Severus' life. She was just as meddlesome too.

Severus entered the great hall with his usual theatrics meant to scare the younger students (it worked) and sat to Minerva McGonagall's right uttering an unimpressive greeting. After Severus had stepped down from the post, Minerva had been elected by the board of governors to become Headmistress. Minerva had taken Severus as Deputy head, despite his complaints. It went without saying that most of the students were horrified of him after dealing with the Carrows and knowing that he was a deadly spy.

Of course, the golden trio did not fear him. Or duo would be more proper these days. After the war, the students who missed their seventh year had the option to return and make it up. The others could go ahead and take their NEWTS, testing out of it. Only five students had opted to come back to school. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Susan Bones, Draco Malfoy, and Terry Boot.

The returning students had, in the absence of room in their respective towers been forced to room with each other. Minerva had found an old suit in the tower next to the astronomy tower and made it suitable for the students, putting two four posters in one room and three in the other. Surprisingly, their common room was larger than the ones in the houses they had before.

There were many objections to this sharing of quarters but now, one week from the start of school this year, the issues had subsided for the most part. Terry and Susan had fallen in so called love, and in order for everyone not to have to hear them going at it, Hermione moved in with the guys, leaving Terry and Susan to be able to sleep with each other without disturbing the rest of the quarters. This also left Harry, Hermione, and Malfoy in a room together. Harry had never gotten over the conviction in his mind that Malfoy was evil, even after Draco's heart to heart with the duo where he told of his spying aside Snape. Hermione, however, had drawn up a truth with the blonde Slytherin and since then, they had gotten along, Hermione learning to appreciate his snide humor and intelligence.

It was this odd pair, Slytherin and Gryffindor, that rounded the turn that lead to the large doors to the great hall right behind their professor. Draco and Hermione chuckled at his dramatic entrance and followed quietly behind. The pair had taken to eating at a small side table along with the other sort of seventh years that sat to left of the teachers table. Hermione still had a hard time eating, always feeling like the student's eyes were on her all the time.

Draco held out her seat for her, the epitome of pureblood manners, minus the fact that they were being put to use on a muggle born. Severus eyed them curiously from his perch at the teacher's table. Lucius would be disgusted with the fact that Draco was behaving so. But Lucius was in Azkaban so he would never know. Severus returned his attention to the meal before him, while Hermione focused on Draco.

"Thanks Draco" she said appreciatively.

"No problem" he said gruffly. He was still new to this friendship and the whole concept of friendship in general. Hermione filled up her plate enthusiastically as he stomach growled. Malfoy sent her a look of humor mingled with disgust then thought better of it. "You could do to put on some weight" he said at her look of confusion at his change of expression. She rolled her eyes then dug in.

Harry joined the pair looking all ruffled up.

"How'd you sleep Harry?" Hermione asked conversationally, Hermione hadn't been woken by any nightmare screams which was always a good sign. Of course, it could mean that he had suck out during the night to see Ginny, whom was currently in Seventh year and consequently in Harry and Hermione's every class.

"Great. No dreams" He said then proceeded to stuff himself in a most Ron-like fashion. Many had wondered why Ron had not taken the chance to be with his friends for another year and his reason was that after Fred had passed away, George had a hard time running Weasley's Wizard Wheezes on his own and asked his brother for help. Ron agreed, feeling guilty about taking Fred's place but knowing that George relied on him heavily to keep the shop running.

At her thoughts of Ron, Hermione's attention quickly shifted to the noise that announced the mail. A bunch of owls entered the window that was kept open for the post in the great hall. Pigwidgeon arrived between Harry and Hermione and proffered his leg. Harry quickly removed the letter the small bird offered and gave him some of Harry's bacon. A large tawny owl arrived near Draco. Both boys opened their letters, Hermione read Ron's over Harry's shoulder, knowing it was to both of them.

Hey Mates!,

Running the store has not been easy seeing as every bloody thing I look at is covered in memories of Fred but I have been coping, and it has been nice to have money for once.

I've been dating Luna for a while and believe it or not, I think it's getting serious. I'm not talking marriage or anything but maybe down the road. Oh! George needs me. I'll write longer later.

Bye!

-Ron

Hermione laughed at his ever present promise to write longer letters. Harry let out a deep chuckle. They both looked at Draco. Hermione didn't want to pry but Draco could see her curiosity anyway.

"Just my finance manager." Draco said in a bored tone. Hermione cocked her eyebrow. "I just sold one of father's less reputable businesses." he said, satisfying his nosy friend. They all took a moment of silence, unhappily remembering the war then discussed the weather at Hermione's prompting. It was sunny outside and they could tell due to the enchanted roof of the great hall. This made the trio giddy and eager to get outside. Unfortunately they had lessons today as it was a Wednesday.

They finished their meals then groaned when they realized they had potions next. Well Harry groaned. Draco was close to his godfather and Hermione just enjoyed potions, not caring about Professor Snape's scathing comments about her supposed inability to think without the aid of a book. They all went down to the classroom. It was their first potions lesson this year. All students dreaded this day because they would be paired with partners for the year whom they would sit with and work with.

They scurried to the door, closely following Professor Snape who unwarded the door and allowed them and the rest of the rowdy students in. Harry and Ginny walked in together, leaving Hermione and Draco alone. As the students filed in the room, Hermione noticed that there were many more Gryffindors than Slytherins. That very fact sent a pang of guilt and sadness through their professor, though he didn't show it. Every empty seat of a student who died in the war felt like a failure. He couldn't dwell on the fact though, he had brats that needed seats assigned.

"I'd say good morning but your presence deems that an inappropriate sentiment." he said, cutting them down as the first act of the school year for the Slytherin/Gryffindor potions class. By this time, they were used the routine of him pointing to two seats and barking out names.

Harry got Seated with some sixth year girl and Ginny instantly looked jealous. Much to Hermione's pleasure she got seated with Draco. This would certainly be an easy year without Neville to babysit. The last she had heard from Neville, he had taken up a job in Herbology so he was well off. That pleased Hermione. A loud clearing of the throat interrupted Hermione's thoughts about her friend and she looked up to see Professor Snape looking at her. Hermione realized she had not moved to sit by Draco and muddled a quick apology, and moved to find her seat.

"Five points from Gryffindor for poor listening skills." Snape snapped. Somehow, he no longer felt the small bit of pleasure he used to when he berated one of Potter's groupies. Hermione took this deduction without even looking irritated. She knew that this year would be hard on her professor, especially since Harry had seen his memories. Hermione was afraid, rightfully, that Harry would be punished for his knowledge.

Her lack of reaction aggravated Snape a little but he let it go. "You dunderheads" he said, his silky voice making the insult stab "are privileged to be gracing this classroom for NEWT level studies. I expect you to work harder than you have in the past years. Any slackers will be removed from this class without a second thought. Are we clear?" after an answering chorus of 'yes professors' he proceeded to tell them that the recipe for the potion they would be brewing today was on the board.

Draco, the gentleman that he was went to get the ingredients for the pair's potion and Hermione was left to peaceful woolgathering. Hermione began to think of her parents. Missing them dearly. They had moved to Australia and loved it there, seeing no reason to return to Britan seeing as they had severed all of their ties. Their distance made it hard on Hermione, making it so she had to apparate to Italy, Turkey, Iran, India, and Indonesia before she finally made it to Australia because she did not have the experience needed to apparate such a distance in one go, but Hermione would deal with it because she had to if she wanted to see her parents.

Draco arrived noisily, barely supporting all of their supplies. Hermione tisked in disapproval. "I would have helped Draco. I offered." She said, berating him for thinking he had to get everything on his own.

"Too late" he said, dismissing her 'I told you so' attitude and deciding to start their project. Draco and Hermione worked in perfect harmony, Draco would chop something then Hermione would add it and stir. Their timing was perfectly on page with each other and they got through the potion flawlessly. Hermione smiled in satisfaction as the potion they were brewing turned the desired lavender color.

They weren't done yet but this was definitely a good sign. Hermione had nothing to do but mindlessly stir for a while and Draco had taken care of all of the ingredient chopping he could for now so they quietly talked. Hermione found it incredibly difficult to think of a discussion that did not relate to the war, seeing as pretty much their entire lives (well, hers since age 11) had been about the war.

"Why did you decide to come back to Hogwarts?" she asked curiously, remembering that she had wanted to ask him previously but had not had the opportunity. "You could have easily passed the NEWTS." she said honestly.

"I should ask you the same thing." he said, dodging the question. Hermione looked at him sternly and he amended. "I wasn't ready to go and run the estate yet. With mother dead and father…you know." he said having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that Lucius was locked up "I would have to take care of it all."

"Who is doing it for you?" Hermione asked, her know-it-all streak showing full form.

"Isn't it your turn to ask a question?" Malfoy asked sardonically. He didn't like the prying into his personal life.

"Yes. There's your answer." Malfoy looked dumbfounded "You just asked me if it were my turn to answer a question. Your turn again!" Malfoy rolled his eyes, deciding he wouldn't get his answer until she got all of hers.

"My godfather." He answered with an expression that seemed to say 'not that big of a deal was it?'. Hermione's curious face came out again.

"Who's that?" She asked. Malfoy sighed. Her need to know everything could get quite tiring. Malfoy shook his head and Hermione understood.

"I wasn't ready to go face my parents. They are still mad at me for obliviating them to send them to safety." she answered honestly. Malfoy was curious now.

"Where'd you send them? I head he was looking for them to get at you. That was a smart move." He said, complimenting her on her war strategy.

"I sent them to Australia and gave them fake identities." She whispered so as not to disturb the others or get a bunch of listeners to their conversation. "It wouldn't have held up against a skilled legillimans but they were well hidden and there wasn't much more I could do." she thought for a moment, most likely reflecting on old memories. "So, who is your godfather anyway?" She said, reverting back to her question.

Draco opened his mouth so he could reply but just before the name escaped his throat another Slytherin entered their conversation "Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy, could you tell me what is so important that you feel the need to interrupt the class with your incessant chatter?" he said. The way he asked the question meant that any answer would be wrong so they both remained silent, hoping he would move on to his next victim.

"I asked a question and I would like an answer," his smooth voice growled.

"We were talking about you, godfather." Draco answered boldly. Hermione blushed, not wanting him to think poorly of her.

Snape's eyes flared "Five points from Slytherin for disrespectful addressing of a teacher and detentions to you both for distracting the class." he growled. Hermione figured that he had overheard their conversation and nodded. They both said a 'yes professor' and stared at the potion that they didn't have to tend to for eight more minutes.

At that moment a loud screetching at the door interrupted the class far more than Hermione and Draco's conversation had. Eyes aflame, Severus whipped open the dungeon door to see three owls.

---x---

Cliffie.

Hope you enjoyed!

Please review! See you on Monday!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey reader. Ha ha. Singular. Someone private messaged me, asking me why I chose Mondays and Thursdays. Well, I really look forward to posting so I figured it would be nice to have something to help me endure Mondays and I figured you could look forward to reading on Monday. And I only want to post twice a week so I did it kind of in the middle of the week.

Happy Monday! Enjoy and Please review.

--x--

Previously - At that moment a loud screetching at the door interrupted the class far more than Hermione and Draco's conversation had. Eyes aflame, Severus whipped open the dungeon door to see three owls.

--x--

The whole class looked up flabbergasted. Post never came in the middle of class. The owls always waited until the next meal to deliver messages. The owls flew into the classroom full of confusion and one perched on the angry potion professor's shoulder, the two others on Hermione and Draco, each offering their legs. Hermione and Draco shared confused looks with each other then with the professor.

It seemed no one had any clue what was going on. Severus shakily reached up and grabbed the letter. The owl flew away without requesting any treats. Draco and Hermione followed suit. What was going on?

"Silent!" Severus shouted, eliminating the talk that had begun with the owls' appearance. He eyed Granger, Malfoy, and Potter and curled one of his long fingers, beckoning up to his desk. He cast a muffliato around the piece of furniture at the front of the classroom. The students knew it was serious but somehow saw humor in the fact that they could see his mouth moving but couldn't hear the words coming out.

"Have any of you got any clue as why we received this…interruption?" Snape said, clearly angry about the blatant disregard for the fact that he was in the middle of teaching. Hermione and Harry looked alarmed at the fact that it could quite possibly be blamed on them and shook their heads at the same time. Severus sighed. Obviously no more conclusions could be reached until he broke the seal.

Severus turned paler than usual when he flipped the letter around. It bore the crest of the ministry. He cracked open the envelope and watched his two students do the same. Unfolding the parchment hesitantly he waited for them to do what they seemed to be waiting for him to do. They stared at each other for about fifteen seconds when Granger huffed and began to read hers. 'The sissies!' she thought to herself.

Miss Hermione Granger,

It is the unfortunate business of the Ministry of Magic to inform you of a serious issue that has occurred in Brittan's magical community. It seems that there have only been seven healthy magical births this year. When the Ministry looked into this issue, it was discovered that this problem is due to the inbreeding of Pureblooded (of undiluted magical heritage for five generations) Witches and Wizards causing the offspring to be squibs or have deformities that turned out to be fatal. If this issue is left untreated, the magical community will completely die out in Brittan seeing as five of those seven children came from purebloods, the others from muggles or half bloods (those of diluted magical heritage in five or less generations.) The ministry has stepped in and is now enforcing law 34.873, titled the Marriage Act, the law is as follows -

Unmarried, Unwiddowed, and Unwiddowered Muggleborn wizards and witches and halfblooded wizards and witches from the age of eighteen to fifty are required to marry a pureblood of the opposite sex in three months time of enacting this law or their 18th birthday.

Married couples must copulate at least twice a week.

Contraceptives of any means, magical or muggle, are completely forbidden.

The fidelius charm will be placed on couples so as to ensure purebloods do not keep reproducing with each other.

Purebloods must send in petitions for the muggleborn or halfblood they desire.

Muggleborns and Halfbloods have a week from their first petition to accept a proposal.

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials! A ministry worker will be required to attend your binding to apply monitoring spells so you need to reserve them at least a week in advance. Thank you.

Bradworth Wellington,

Ministry of Magic

Population Control

--x--

Hermione's thoughts stopped. She turned paler than Snape when he was pale. For a moment Draco thought she was going to faint and he motioned for the potions professor to move from his seat so she could sit before she did faint. The potions master moved, seeing it was safer but angry that a student was about to sit in his desk. Draco gently sat her down. Hermione was off in her own world.

Both Slytherins eyed each other in a moment of tension, wondering who would proceed. Sick of the suspense, Snape grabbed his own paper and read it's contents, Draco quickly followed behind. Snape's world had come to a complete stop as Hermione's had. Draco was busy making plans. Harry read his and wondered if he could get Ginny's parents to sign a slip that would allow her to petition for him. In the weeks after the war, Draco had kindled a romantic relationship with Padma Patil who was a halfblood and he had been courting her so he was rapidly making plans to meet with her and discuss the possibility of marriage. If she said no, who knew what he would do? In the mean time, he had two hysterical people to deal with, both of which he had no clue how to start with. He decided to take the easy way out and approached Hermione.

"Hush, love" he said trying to stop her cries "It'll be okay, surely you have some strapping young pureblood locked up in your closet." he said, sounding hopeful for the sake of his friend. Hermione chuckled a little at his choice of words.

"Draco, I have no one." she said quietly. "No one at all." At her words, another owl sounded at the door. Draco looked at her pleading for his short release then walked over to the door, opening it and allowing the fowl in, only to see him and three others fly in behind it and go straight to Hermione.

Hermione wailed a little and Draco took the liberty of removing the letters from the owls and they turned around, flying out of the room. Hermione looked at the letters. 'Well, my day couldn't get any worse' she thought sourly, opening one.

---x---

Miss Hermione Granger,

You have received an official petition for your hand from Rabastan Lestrange. You have a week to accept this or another petitions.

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

Bradworth Wellington,

Ministry of Magic

Population Control

---x---

Hermione, running on auto, read the other three letters. She had received petitions from Rabastan Lestrange, Amycus Carrow, Theodore Nott, and Olivander Wood. Hermione in a bizarre moment of clarity figured that all of the ex-death eaters couldn't wait to get their revenge on Harry Potter's mud blood sidekick…aside from Olivander, he was just a dirty old man.

The thought made Hermione sick. If she married someone like Ron, who she wouldn't because he was currently with Luna, he wouldn't be able to fight off any angry death eaters and she would probably end up dead anyway. Hermione turned sick. Maybe it would just be easier if she were dead. Meanwhile, Snape's thoughts were going down a whole different path.

'Well, I really don't want to go to Azkaban. But I will probably end up being forced to. Who would marry me?' he was honest to himself in his thoughts. Not many women would willingly marry him. Almost none with their sanity in tact.

Harry was thinking about how he could propose to Ginny then explain to her that she was the one who had to propose essentially. He looked at Ginny from across the room and offered her a small smile.

Draco saw that he was losing what little control he had over the situation and he looked at Snape. "We should probably go up to McGonagall" he said sheepishly, not wanting to be snapped at. Snape seemed to come to life and glared at all of the students at once, a talent it seemed only he had mastered. He looks of confusion on all of their faces. He removed the muffliato and practically shouted "Class dismissed. You have thirty seconds to get out."

The students were clearly scared and began to rush out, many forgetting books and such. Severus looked at the students before him in disgust as if this travesty was their fault. Harry, Draco, and Severus all rose from their seats but Hermione stared ahead unseeingly. "Hermione, love get up" Draco urged in a whisper. Something seemed to snap and Hermione followed suit, rising with the men.

The group eagerly walked through the halls. Harry and Draco were worried that Hermione wouldn't be able to find a solution, and Severus was worried about himself. Harry and Draco walked them up to the gargoyle that guarded the door that lead to the Headmistresses office then dismissed themselves.

"Hermione, I have plans to make. I need to write Molly and Arthur and talk to them about Ginny." Harry looked extremely apologetic. Hermione's face look distressed for a few moments then smoothed out.

"I understand Harry. I'm sure you all have plans to make." Hermione's voice sounded dead. Draco gave her an awkward hug and Harry wiped away some of the tears that had managed to leak out of her eyes. Hermione watched the boys walk away and waited for Professor Snape to follow but he didn't budge until she turned to face him, when he looked at the Gargoyle and muttered the password. Hermione understood that Snape needed guidance just as much as she did.

The two were admitted by the stone creature and hurriedly climbed to the top of the headmistress's tower. They came upon the door and Snape knocked, creating a noise so powerful Hermione's ears rang for a moment. She was rather surprised he didn't break his knuckles in the process. She heard a flustered noise on the other side of the door and a very surprised Minerva McGonagall opened the door.

"Severus, Miss Granger. What can I help you with?" McGonagall's voice sounded high pitched. She was distressed at the possibility that one of her Gryffindors could be in trouble. Severus urged Miss Granger forward and the headmistress permitted them into her domain.

Wordlessly, as Severus passed, he handed Minerva the scroll that had caused this mess in the first place. Hermione and Severus sat in seats next to each other while McGonagall sat facing them at her desk. Minerva read the letter and instantly her manner stiffened. She almost began to cry when she saw the petitions Hermione had received.

"Oh my Miss Granger." Hermione felt the urge to be sarcastic at this response but decided against it "Severus, do you think these men will take action against a possible suitor?" Minerva enquired, scared for the life of Hermione. Severus' problems could wait until later.

"There is a definite threat from Nott. I wouldn't put it past him to try anything. He's dangerous too Minerva." Severus said calmly, as if they were discussing the weather over morning tea. Hermione looked like she had mixed feeling. Anger at the fact that they thought her unable to defend her self. Fear at knowing that it was a long shot herself. And frustration at the fact that there were no simple answers this time. No text books that covered this. No one could tell her confidently what decision to make. Hermione felt helpless.

Minerva stared into nothingness for a while, trying to find any sort of satisfactory solution for this. She clearly needed an experienced fighter who knew his way around dark spells to care for her. Unfortunately, these type of wizards weren't in abundance, especially not purebloods. Minerva looked up as Albus cleared his throat. He had clearly been reading over Minerva's shoulder.

"Minerva. Hermione needs a man who can fight for her. Some young strapping but experienced buck." the portrait version of Albus Dumbledore stated. "I'm afraid that there is only one clear solution." He said knowingly as if the solution was glaringly obvious.

"and what would that be Albus?" Minerva snapped at the headmaster, clearly agitated at his antics.

"Minerva, my dear. The solution is sitting right in front of me" the old headmaster stated loftily, using his hand to gesture towards the potions master. Severus just cocked an eyebrow. Hermione turned whiter than he again and Minerva clucked over her, fearing she would faint.

Minerva looked at Severus hopefully. He could see where this was going. "No" he stated simply. "absolutely not" his voice sounded gruff. No way in hell he would be married to his student.

Minerva eyed him, hoping to convince him "Severus, it wouldn't be illegal or wrong. You would be saving her life." Minerva strived to convince him of the validity of this possibility. This could work…it would be after a lot of effort and will power, but they could co-exist peacefully.

Severus felt the unreasonable urge to burst out in laughter though he truly wasn't finding any humor in the situation, other than the fact that his superior had gone battier than the man before her. "I will not subject this child to dealing with me for the rest of her life." Severus said sternly. Minerva could tell that he would be shouting soon but pressed the issue further. It didn't seem like there were any other chances for miss granger at the moment.

"Severus, if you don't marry her, she won't have a rest of her life." Minerva berated him. It was obvious he was stalling.

"You wish for me to rape my student?" He demanded now, his voice raising. Minerva somehow looked eighty years older. Hermione looked about twelve years old. She felt especially disturbed when he brought up

"Severus, it is her only hope right now." The look that Minerva shot Severus was incredibly beseeching. Severus stood up, turned around and slammed the door behind him. His life would not be left to this girl.

"Hermione dear, give me some time, he will come around." Minerva tried to calm the student before her that had started crying. Minerva hadn't given a thought to the fact that she hadn't even asked Hermione if she was comfortable with this situation. Minerva wasn't particularly comfortable with Severus being with a student, let alone one of her favorite Gryffindors. Minerva felt incredibly bad for Hermione, but this was pretty much her only option. He was the only man smart enough and strong enough to keep Hermione safe.

Minerva looked at the student and stood up, an apologetic expression on her face. She motioned for Hermione to stay seated in her absence and left her room in a flurry of robes. Hermione had no thoughts running through her mind. Right now she was on autopilot, her concentration on steady breathing. So far, her breathing exercises haven't been too successful.

Minerva practically ran down the halls in pursuit of the dungeons. It took her a lot longer than it would have taken Severus to get there because she was elderly and didn't know the secret passages quite as well as the potions master did. Hermione got to his door and began to knock. When she received a slurred 'go the hell away', she just pressed her wand to the door. Hogwarts automatically admitted her entrance because she was the headmistress.

Minerva entered Severus' spacious quarters to see him nursing a bottle of fire whiskey. Cheap and full of alcohol.

"Severus, you need to do this for me, for your student. If you don't step in now, those…men for lack of a better word…will kill her after brutally torturing and raping her. Every man would want revenge on Hermione, Severus, you are her only hope." The Headmistress spat out desperately.

On the way down to the dungeons, the headmistress had thought through every possible scenario that would come out successful and could only think of one. The one that involved Severus. She looked at Severus and summoned a sobering potion. Severus was not getting out of this conversation without giving Minerva the answer she wanted.

"K, I'll do it." he said, a miserable tone in his voice.

Minerva shook her head then offered him the sober up potion. Severus took a suspicious sniff of it and decided it safe. He took a big gulp and Minerva could see his eyes clearing up just like that.

"Minerva, what's the point of alcohol if you are going to sit there and only let me enjoy it for a few moments? It's a pointless waste of money." Severus snapped testily. He looked at her moodily and folded his arms.

"What do you want from me Minerva?" his voice sounded defeated and he didn't look to happy about the current situation. He sounded pleading too, as if he wanted to get out of this situation in any way at all. A piteous look crossed her face.

"I want you to be happy. I need you to save Miss Granger." McGonagall said in a quiet voice. Severus almost argued saying that those were contrasting requests and there would be no way to satisfy both of them, but left it as it was. He stared at the wall for a moment, as if the answer to the rest of his life would be hidden somewhere in the bumps of the paint.

Severus turned to her, his eyes hollow. He wasn't sacrificing much, the front of his mind was arguing at how annoying she would be, what a burden, the back of his mind was being honest and admitting that she needed saving and he would have to step in and help her. "Fine Minerva, I'll do it. I'll marry Hermione Granger.".


	3. Chapter 3

Previously - "Fine Minerva, I'll do it. I'll marry Hermione Granger.".

---x---

Snape pinched his large nose as Minerva wrapped her small body around his masculine one in an embrace containing both pity and sorrow. Severus sighed.

"Where is the bloody form Minerva?" he asked angered by the pity he saw. Some odd reaction occurred in his head. He didn't need this pity. He could get through this piece of cake. How hard could it be to take care of a girl he had be rescuing since she was eleven? Severus looked at the woman impatiently.

"I left the form in my office with Miss Granger." Minerva said and began walking in the direction of the aforementioned location. Severus just cocked an eyebrow, as if questioning her competence for not grabbing a very important paper in such a flurry. Minerva rolled her eyes to herself when she noticed his expression and walked forward primly.

The duo entered Minerva's office to find Hermione huddled up in a ball on the couch, recounting the activities of today. She seemed disbelieving at the fact that she had to get married at the age of eighteen to her snaky son of a bitch potions professor. Hermione looked at the two professors as they entered and sheepishly returned to a proper sitting position. She shot a questioning look at Minerva, who nodded grimly.

Meanwhile, Severus had taken a seat at her desk and was filling out the required information to officially send an owl.

"I _____ hereby official petition for the hand of ______ in matrimony under decree 34.876"

Severus signed in his usual spiky scrawl and Hermione watched as he summoned an owl to come and take the letter to the ministry. A handsome barn owl flew into the room. He wasn't the traditional white and brown and Hermione had to do a double take. He was an elegant looking black owl. Figures. There were probably like four black owls in the world and Snape would hunt one down, not daring to stray from his seemingly favorite color.

Severus tied the envelope to he bird's leg and watched as it flew out through the window. Now they had about thirty minutes to wait until Hermione got her letter of notification and sign that. Then they would have the next three months to plan a wedding. It was October twenty third, giving them until January twenty third to seal the deal.

While waiting for the letter Hermione just stared at Severus. She observed the harsh angles of his aristocratic roman face and wondered if it would look the same way in fifty years. In a hundred? Hermione sighed. Mental, or verbal for that matter, whining was of no use right now. Snape would hardly be one to pity her and Minerva had slipped out of the office, giving them time to talk. What a wonderful conversation they were having!

At this moment Hermione started second-guessing it. They hadn't even asked her if she wanted to do this! She was expected to sign that form but she didn't have to. Thinking about it though, she didn't really have many other options. Hermione glared at him. She had practically no choice but to marry him. Damn his intelligence and strength. That is why she needed this snake of a man.

Severus noticed her glare and up went that eyebrow. Hermione mimicked his expression but he didn't seem amused. He decided he would have to man up and looked at her.

"When do you want the nuptials to take place?" Hermione mentally snorted. He wouldn't even call it a wedding. At that thought, Hermione wondered what it would be like? A short ministry ceremony? A party? Hermione didn't want to pressure Snape into a large wedding but no little girl dreams of getting married in the white walls of the ministry. Of course, Hermione never dreamed it would be Snape she would be wedding either.

"Well, we have until January and depending on what kind of ceremony we have, I'll plan around that." Hermione said. Waiting for him to tell her that they would be in the ministry of magic on the twenty third of January so they could postpone it as long as possible.

"I haven't a care. You make all the arrangements and I'll show up." His deep voice answered her unasked question. Hermione graced him with a small smile then frowned again. Severus looked at her questioningly but figured that it must be her disappointment in the man that she would marry.

"I…how…how are we going to pay for this?" Hermione asked cautiously. She had about 20 galleons to her name, which was about one hundred pounds. Hermione wouldn't even be able to buy a decent wedding dress with her savings. It was in that moment that she considered a ministry marriage.

Severus chuckled. Hermione was startled. She looked down at herself, checking for stains or wardrobe malfunctions but came up from her observances with a blank look on her face. Severus just picked up his ebony wand and cast a silent summoning spell. In flew a folded little note. He casually handed it to Hermione.

It was a bank statement. When Hermione read the amount on the paper her mahogany eyes widened and an inaudible gasp left her lips. Severus deftly grabbed the statement and placed it in some hidden pocket above his breast in his raven colored robes.

With a nod and whisper Hermione murmured "That takes care of that then" her eyes still wide. Severus almost made the comment 'if that's all it takes you to shut up I would have tried it years ago' but decided that already messing with his young wife-to-be would be considered bad form.

"So…" Hermione started hesitantly "You don't care if we have an actual wedding?" Hermione asked shyly. She didn't want to anger him and get berated for something stupid like her incessant pushing or something of the sort.

"No." he said plainly. No elaboration. Just no. Hermione took that as consent and then made a mental note to go research wizarding weddings in the library when her life got sorted out. It would be a while, but sometime before the wedding plans needed to be made, obviously.

"When do you want it?" this time he just referred to their bonding as 'it'. That was yet another faux pas that would not be tolerated by any other fiance than Snape. Hermione thought. The most convenient time for all of her friends to make it out would most likely be during the holidays. Hermione said as much and Snape murmured his consent.

The sat in silence for a few moments, both observing each other (Snape was doing so a little less out right but still, he was taking notes). Hermione jumped when a loud scratch assaulted the window. Severus, however, had heard the flapping wings of the bird and was already standing when Hermione got startled. There was something comedic over the fact that the girl would scare over a bird but was going to marry the big bad bat of the dungeons.

Severus patted the owl and fed him one of the owl treats that Minerva kept on her desk. He muttered "Thank you Mercury" and handed the scroll to Hermione along with a feather quill. Hermione smiled at the name. Of course he would chose the name of his owl to be that of the messenger of the gods. Severus definitely wasn't very original when it came to names.

Something in that reassured Hermione and she lost the slight feeling that she could end up with a child named Ragnarok…of course, it was also a name from mythology. Hermione shuddered at that thought, an action not missed by Severus, and sat down in the seat that had been occupied previously by Severus.

"Miss Hermione Granger,

You have received an official petition for your hand from Severus Snape. You have a week to accept this or another petition.

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

Bradworth Wellington,

Ministry of Magic"

Hermione looked at the paper then grabbed the stiff one behind and signed her agreement to be married to Severus Snape through the terms of the law. She looked into his black eyes and tears started to form. When did her life get so screwed up? Oh yeah, when she moved to Hogwarts. Severus turned around, giving her a little privacy so he wouldn't be staring her down as she wept.

Hermione tried to stop the tears and was successful after five minutes. Severus turned to her as the sniffles ceased.

"Are you hungry?" he asked after casting a tempus charm, seeing that lunch was already over. Hermione let a bashful nod and he held open the door for his fiance for the first time. Hermione felt oddly taken care of when he displayed these manners and for a moment she thought it would be okay. She wanted to be mature about and she wanted to have faith in Snape, she truly did, but no matter how rational her mind was, she still shied at the thought of spending all of her life alongside this dark wizard.

The couple walked down to the kitchens to get some lunch. They both knew they could have summoned a house elf but they felt like moving and didn't want to sit in McGonagall's dreary office so they left. Severus took Hermione into the kitchen where many sounds of pots and pans scraping against surfaces could be heard and the high-pitched squeaking of the house-elves resonated through the room.

"Mitsy can help you Master Snape?" the house elf asked. Hermione could tell the elf feared something. The elf was worried she had missed some signal of her master summoning her. Severus just looked at her with no expression. Not friendliness, but also not a condescending look that most house elves were accustomed to. Just blank.

"Can you get Miss Granger and I some lunch please?" he said. Hermione looked at him for a long moment, gauging the awkwardness of her next comment before it slipped out.

"We are going to be married." Hermione said, her voice sounding a little distant. "How astute an observation of yours Miss Granger" Snape said mocking her. He really couldn't resist. She practically asked for it. Hermione resisted the temptation to stick her tongue out at him and continued.

"We are going to be married. You should call my by my name." She said. Her voice sounded devoid of emotion, almost as much as Snape's did.

"Your name is Miss Granger" He countered. Not ready to call her Hermione. It was just wrong. She was still a student….with that mindset, Severus didn't know how in the world he was going to be able to sleep with her, if he couldn't bear to call her by her first name.

"It will be Madame Snape in a few months." she said irritated, her voice raising just a fraction. Severus cocked an eyebrow as he was known to do far too often.

"Whatever you wish" he said "Hermione" he purred her name out. He was trying to make it sound sinister but any witch with ears would agree that it sounded more sensual than anything. Hermione flushed a bright red and looked at her feet. She decided that now would be an interesting time to act on that famous Gryffindor courage.

"Glad you agree" she said then mirrored his expression with a cocked eyebrow herself "Severus". Both of them snapped out of it as Mitsy returned with a heaping tray of food enough to feed four sumo wrestlers. The little elf floated the tray over to a small table set up in the closest corner of the kitchen for occasions such as these and plates and silver ware appeared.

They both turned from each other and headed towards the table. It was incredibly awkward. Severus' mind just kept shouting "STUDENT STUDENT SHOULD NOT BE DINING WITH YOUR STUDENT". Hermione's mind just seemed to be repeated "your life is over" Hermione's thoughts were a lot quieter as she had given up hope for any semblance of a life.

After their impromptu meal was completed to the best of their ability, Severus stood, eyeing her. "I have classes to attend to…" he trailed off a moment. "If you desire, I will write you an exemption pass" his voice was gruff and slightly embarrassed.

Hermione looked at him with wonder in her eyes. It was confusing. This man had probably never done it anyway so it would obviously looked forged to any recipients. Hermione wondered why he would offer when he detested the absence of a minute of learning and expressed as much.

"I take care of what is mine." He said simply. Apparently letting her miss class was taking care of her. Hermione blushed. Legally she was his. Simple as that. She seriously mentally debated but her know-it-all self took over and she responded with a "that won't be necessary but thanks".

Hermione was surprised at his act of possessiveness. For someone that absolutely detested the situation, he was making Hermione feel awfully safe. Hermione wondered what was wrong with Severus. Quite frankly, so did Severus. When his mind thought of that comment, it was meant to reassure her that he would take care of her, but he wondered if it was taking it one step too far. What was he thinking? In just two months' time he would be shagging this girl.

He mentally cringed at the thought. Marriage license or not, consent or not, this would never be okay. He was not supposed to be even friends with one of his students, fucking her was going a little too far. Or a lot.

It was with thoughts of self-disgust and a general hatred for the whole situation, that he opened the door and let Miss Granger…erm, Hermione through the door and parted ways with her as she went up to History of Magic and he went back down to the dungeons to prepare for his next class.

How could a man go from peacefully teaching his class, to being engaged, to teaching the class in the very same day. Only a few hours' time had elapsed since the damn ministry owls had interrupted his class, but it felt like days. Severus cursed to himself. This was going to be a long life if time proceeded the way it had today.

--x--

The next morning Hermione awoke, stretching in a very feline like manner and yawning peacefully. She then let out a wail as the memories from the previous day came crashing through her head. Hermione cast a tempus and saw she had an hour to get ready for classes. Then she realized that yesterday was Friday and she had no school obligations today.

Hermione rolled over in bed but could not find rest even though she had gotten virtually none during the night. She groaned. She for once in her life, had not had a dream in her sleep. She fell into slumber and it felt like the second she hit the pillow she was awake again. Hermione rose from her bed and went about her morning routine to get ready to go to Hogsmeade with Harry and possibly Draco if he showed up. As Hermione was doing this, she went through a list of all of the male order members if her head to see if there would have been another possible option, even though it was moot point now.

Deadalus Diggle - Half-Blood

Elphias Doge - Too old to be subject to the law

Aberforth Dumbledore - Too old

Mundungus Fletcher - Not trustworthy / halfblood

Rubeus Hagrid - Half-giant, not subject to law

Remus Lupin - Not subject to law

Alastor Moody - Halfblood

Sturgis Podmore - In Azkaban

Kingsley Shacklebolt - Halfblood

Severus Snape - Eligible

Arthur Weasley - Married

Bill Weasley - Married

Charlie Weasley - Engaged

George Weasley - Engaged

The reality hit her that Snape was the only eligible man.

Hermione looked grim as she exited her quarters. She set out to find the great hall to get some food as she was incredibly hungry. Hermione walked quietly and slowly on her way through the halls in Hogwarts. She greeted Sir Nicholas in a melancholy fashion, leaving him worried in her wake, then finally came to the dining hall.

Hermione looked around. It was too early for most students to be up, so Hermione had the place mostly to herself aside from about seven other students and one teacher. The one teacher she really didn't care to see right now. Hermione fought the urge to turn around and walk away and just sat down with a doomed expression painted across her features. One that Snape mirrored in his features.

Just as Hermione picked up a piece of toast adorned with jelly a very flustered Harry came bursting into the room. Hermione looked shocked. Harry smiled weakly and embraced her fiercely.

"Hermione I'm so sorry I had to leave you. What happened? Are you okay?" He spoke all on one breath and Hermione motioned for him to sit down.

"Take a big drink Harry" Hermione said, somehow that always seemed to calm down Harry. After Harry had hesitantly followed her orders Hermione spoke again. "I got petitions for very dangerous men. Previous death eaters." Harry grimaced but Hermione ignored the expression and continued on with her tale. "These men will kill me if I marry them, and may still try if I do not" Hermione left out that the reason was to get revenge on Harry "I have to marry a man who can help protect me from them." Hermione spit out the word protect and it was clear that she thought she could take care of herself. Harry nodded impatiently.

"I know all of this Hermione." he said in a small voice and gave her an encouraging hug from the seat beside her.

"I have to marry…" Hermione trailed off, willing the words to come out of her mouth. "I have too…" she tried once more "Oh! I can't do this!" She said crying and ran out of the great hall in tears. Harry sat there thinking 'this must be bad'

Snape, who had witnessed the whole exchange lazily got up, not excited to have to go deal with a crying hormonal teenager. He walked through the door that Hermione had taken rather than the one the teachers used. Harry, ever observant since the war, had noticed this. Slowly the puzzle began to piece itself together.

"Oh Shit" he said, shell shocked.

You may have noticed I dropped the f-bomb. I don't normally but I think that when the character's really get screwed up, more vulgar language helps set the mood for what's going through their minds. Please bear with me. *makes angel face*

Questioning my black owl? Silly reader! Check out this link! It even says it is from the UK. Lets just say that Snape got a hold of this pretty birdy with that crazy ass Snape fortune - .


	4. Chapter 4

You guys are great! The support I receive from reviews KEEPS ME GOING. A big thanks goes out to all of the reviewers, I couldn't have done it without your support! Umm. Please forgive me if this isn't up to my usual standard. I just started (don't hate me) cheerleader practice and am .sted.

Do you guys have a problem with my pacing? I don't know, it seems like it goes to fast but…I don't know….just give me some feedback. Should I slow it down?

--x--

Harry had taken the news to Hermione and Severus' engagement poorly to say the least. His first reaction was just being stunned. When he regained feelings in his legs and thoughts in his brain, he rushed up to McGonagall and demanded she forbid this crazy thing at once. Harry was not at all happy to know that she was advocating this farce of a marriage.

A month and a half later and Harry had not grown accustomed to this fact. Ron and all of the Weasley family had been notified as well and Ron had taken it upon himself to visit McGonagall in the same style Harry had. No one was pleased with this development in their friends life but it seemed like no one could do anything to change anything.

Hermione and Severus had been meeting once a week for the past few weeks and the meetings had been incredibly awkward to say the least. At the beginning they had settled for very little conversation and just sat in silence while she did her homework and he graded papers. It had been McGonagall's idea that they should meet regularly like this and Severus complied, wanting to make it easier on his future wife. Hermione agreed because she wanted to find out more about the man that was to be hers for the rest of her life. She didn't find out much until this past Wednesday.

---x---

It had all started out with a snort.

"How lady like of you Hermione" Severus said, eyeing her over his reading glasses with an expression that taunted slightly. Hermione looked at him defiantly as if trying to justify such a noise.

"You would be just the same if you had read this article" She said, eyeing her copy of /Potions Quarterly/. Severus cocked a challenging eyebrow and Hermione thrust the article towards her fiance. His eyes skimmed the work of paper and Hermione could see him reread a few spots.

"I see no issue." he said with no expression on his face. Hermione looked at him as if he was crazy.

"It seems I need to refresh your memory. It clearly states in both /Potions Through the Ages/ and /The Competent Brewer's Guide to Success/ that Flitterbloom CANNOT be combined with essence of Belladonna unless you want an explosion!" as she rattled on she turned more and aggravating, seeing as he had not made a motion that revealed a slight interest in commenting on this rampage.

"Ahh, very true." Severus said. Hermione looked confused. "But what if you looked outside of books and played around with it?" Hermione watched him as he talked "You would find that Peppermint actually neutralizes Belladonna. Don't just refer to books. Sometimes it is better to actually try something different."

At this, Hermione marveled at how smart he was. You would have had to have spent hours of research and constant measuring to discover. It would take a very motivated person to take on this challenge. Hermione already knew he was brilliant but she knew that a discovery such as this had definitely helped the magical community. Hermione asked him if he had been the person to discover this and the answer had been yes. At this, Severus had shown her a book case that previously unknown to Hermione, was a collection of al of his works.

Hermione's eyes widened in astonishment when she saw all of the books that had been written by her esteemed professor. Hermione was surprised at just how much he had discovered and written on. He had invented a total of twenty four new potions and two hundred and four variations. Hermione asked why none of his books had been in the library in Hogwarts and had been surprised at his response. "Remember that fool Lockheart? Anything to avoid being like him." At his comment, Hermione laughed. Severus allowed her a small grin, devoid of teeth of course.

---x---

Ever since this occurrence, Hermione had come in every night to read his work and they actually seemed at peace with each other. They were both still testing the waters of their relationship and both were trying to get accustomed to each other's presence.

The worst time was during potions. Hermione could feel people shooting her piteous looks every time he lashed out at a student for a mistake. Severus stumbled with her name at first and decided to just take her wishes into consideration and started calling her Hermione that way when she got wedded, she would not have to be called Snape.

Hermione and Severus had agreed on going to Diagon Alley this Saturday to shop for all of the things she would need for the wedding. Hermione was excited to get out of the 'god forsaken castle' as it had been dubbed two days earlier. She had been permitted to take several friends and chose just Ginny and Luna to go with her for support. Hermione wasn't particularly close to either of the girls but felt that she would enjoy having them along all the same.

Hermione, Luna, and Ginny congregated near the exit of the castle at the time arranged by Snape's fiance and were struggling to make small talk when the man himself stalked up to the girls. He nodded at them solemnly then held the door open, ushering the three of them out all the while thinking 'lovely Severus, you have invited three teenage girls to go spend your money for you.' .

They arrived in Diagon Alley in no time and immediately Ginny hauled Hermione over to Madame Malkins. Severus set a sulky expression on his face and headed in. While the girls veered right, over into the women's section, Severus took a left to see what robes he could find.

---with Hermione---

Hermione suddenly saw a head pop out from behind some spools of fabric and quickly identified the store's owner, Madame Malkin.

"Hello girls, what can I do for you today?" said the woman kindly. Hermione looked around and was amazed at all the different colors, styles, and types of fabric that was displayed before her and knew that this would take a while.

"I'm looking for a wedding dress."

---x---

Oh wow. This isn't even half of my normal output. I'm exhausted. My sister had a baby. I'm an aunt!!! Anyway, I am very sorry that I really half-assed this. I will DEFINITELY do better next week. Please don't be mad.


	5. Chapter 5

I would, to begin like to express my appreciation to all of my readers. Your support and interest helps me stay motivated!

Some have asked me about the title of my story. Philter - a potion, charm, or drug supposed to cause the person taking it to fall in love, usually with some specific person.

---x---

The woman looked at her knowingly. With the marriage law, there had been many girls that had been coming in for similar reasons.

"All right dear" She smiled warmly "do you know what you are looking for?". Hermione looked around and saw that there were only a few pre-made dresses.

"Can I see what you have already made?" Hermione asked, wanting to if not buy one of the dresses, get some ideas. The witch nodded and lead her over to the corner Hermione had been eyeing. They were all in improper sizes for Hermione or just completely unappealing. Hermione looked each one over, mentally stating what she liked from each dress and trying to combine all of the elements she liked into one good looking dress but didn't really come up with any mental image that she liked. She stated as much and the old witch nodded understandingly.

"If you want, we can try some styles on you that suit your body and we can go from them." Hermione agreed to that and within minutes the matron was magically putting some dress samples on the girl. Hermione found something she loved and quickly talked fabric. It took Hermione a total of two hours to find the perfect dress for her. She was absolutely smitten with the dress and never wanted to take it off once the finished product was on her body.

---with Severus---

Severus looked around and a man in his mid twenties stood at a desk, doing some paperwork. When he heard steps in his side of the shop he perked up, ready to help the customer. His face looked slightly shocked when he saw his surly potions professor. Severus looked at him, remembering the name, age, graduating year, and OWL grade. Severus never particularly liked Fletcher Preece as he was rather dull and was quite disappointed to know that he would be dealing with a dunderhead for part of his morning.

"Professor Snape." Fletcher said in an intimidated voice. "What erm..can I help you with sir?" Severus internally smirked. This boy had not seen any of him for almost ten years and still almost trembled at the sight of him.

"I'm looking for some dress suits." Severus said, bored.

"Something for a graduation or a dinner?" Preece asked.

"I'm getting married." Severus responded, not too excitedly since he had really expected a response like that. The look on Fletcher's face was one of utter astonishment and fear. He almost asked who the lucky lady was, unable to believe that the vile man could convince any poor woman to marry him, but decided he liked having all arms and legs and other body parts attached to his body.

"I want the traditional cut in the darkest black you have." Severus said before the incompetent worker could ask what he was looking for. The man quickly went into a storage closet and pulled out the darkest fabric he could find then pulled out the pattern for it. He looked at Severus with a defeated glance.

"I'm going to have to ask you to remove all but your undergarments". Severus looked at him….damn…he had forgotten about that necessity of clothes shopping. Many awkward moments later, Severus walked up to the counter and checked out. He then took a seat that faced the window so he could watch the crowds go by as he waited on his soon-to-be-wife.

---x---

The group reconvened an hour and a half after Severus selected his robes and Severus was slightly irritable but tried not to lash out at Hermione for her disregard for the time she spent shopping. He clamped his teeth to avoid from snapping at the prattling little girls.

It was agreed upon by Severus and…Severus that the next stop should be the jewelry shop. The group walked quickly. Severus in attempt to get this day over with sooner. The girls, because they were excited to see what ring Hermione would select for her professor.

Both entered the store and as in the dress shop, the store was divided into two parts, one for men's jewelry and one for women's. Severus went unexcitedly into the women's while Hermione sort of automatically went to the men's side.

Hermione wasn't sure what she was feeling. She wasn't feeling staggering love, or really any love at all for her fiancé, and she wasn't really excited to be marrying him either. She supposed she would just pick something practical as he was a potions master and any reactive metals could prove truly dangerous if an accident occurred….of course, that would probably never happen with Severus.

Hermione settled in, tuning her friends out while she perused the selection that was available. She went to platinum as that was the least reactive metal. She saw many rings but ignored the ones with stones on them, thinking Severus would not appreciate something showy like a stone, even if it were in the most divine Slytherin green. Hermione searched and searched, trying to find something that she liked that Severus would not be completely adverse to wearing.

She eventually settled on a ring that had one thick band of plain metal in the middle, with two slim Celtic knots running all the way around it. It wasn't horribly intricate but it wasn't incredibly plain either. Hermione decided that this would be appropriate and talked to the saleswoman who had been trying to assist her the whole time despite Hermione repetitively saying that she would do fine on her own.

As she was purchasing the ring, Ginny and Luna pulled her into a conversation about the wedding.

"So, you are holding it at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked curiously, wondering why anyone would chose a school for their wedding rather than a home. Ginny then remembered that Hermione's home had been destroyed and the Hogwarts was the closest thing she had to a home….she would also be stuck there after graduation.

"Yes, on the side of the lake opposite of the castle so you can see Hogwarts in the distance." Ginny had to hand it to Hermione, that was a lovely spot.

"That sounds great Hermione. Watch out for the Smirlies though. They can be quite pesky over there." Luna said dreamily. Hermione smiled and replied that she would indeed watch out for the Smirlies despite the fact that she had no clue what they were. On the other side of the shop, Severus was dealing with the most annoying salesman he had ever encountered.

---x---

"Good morning Sir, How can I help you?" he said in a friendly tone.

"I'll just look around." Snape said gruffly.

"Surely I can help you? What sort of ring are you looking for sir?"

"I don't know yet, I'll just look around."

"A wedding ring?" the man observed when Snape walked over to that section. "Tell me a little bit about your girl and I can help you pick something out."Severus just ignored him and looked at the rings in silence, his hand twitching of want to cast a silencing charm on the person that was irritating him so. He scanned the rings and had absolutely no clue what Hermione would like. He decided that diamonds would suit because they went with everything and were traditional. In the diamond section, he picked out a ring that was platinum setting with many diamonds. The platinum was around the diamonds, every other diamond was lemon shaped, the next was round. Severus decided that this would suit his fiancée and if she hated it, they had more than enough funds for her to pick out one that she deemed suitable.

The man eyed him and nodded. "A nice choice. Who is your bride." Severus had had enough and got out of there as soon as possible, meeting up with his charges.

"Let's go to eat." Hermione could see that he was angry and rested a hesitant hand on his arm, trying to calm him. Severus snapped out of it and just cocked his eyebrow, eyeing her hand. Hermione embarrassedly removed her hand and Severus guided the group to a restaurant called The Enchanted Oak Tavern. It was a rather large establishment and was reasonably busy.

Severus held open the door for all of the young ladies all the while maintaining an 'I'd rather kill myself' expression. He had been getting accusatory glances all day from people who knew him for accompanying such young women around, most of everyone these days recognized Hermione too, so they were quite a sight.

Everyone knew about their engagement the day after it happened, no doubt thanks to the ministries moles and it had been heavily suggested that Hermione and her potions professor had been shacking up long before forced. It was also very clear that those writing those articles thought that she had not earned those grades.

Hermione had to admit that it was quite hurtful and offensive to suggest that she was not smart enough to earn her grades, but was happy in the fact that there was no way she was sleeping with all of her teachers, as she had received near perfect grades in every subject anyway.

Hermione had been doing her very best to adjust to the sudden acquisition of a significant other. Often, she was very brave and tried to just get through it all. Today was one of the days when she was feeling a little edgy, looking at the dress she would wear to seal her fate had brought that on.

Everyone was silent as they took their seats in the restaurant. Ginny roped Luna and Hermione into a conversation in very little time and soon the girls were discussing the most interesting gossip that was going on amongst the seventh years. Ginny did most of the talking, Luna interrupted mostly to identify the type of creature that could cause the behavior that resulted in many interesting stories, and Hermione only stopped to put a name to a face. Severus just stared.

Severus watched how Hermione was barely paying attention to the discussion and he remembered the spark in her eye when she was in an interesting conversation…or perhaps it was anger or outrage. Either way, he could tell that she was not at all interested in this chatter.

The waitress came over not soon enough. This girl was yet another of Severus' students, one of the more recent ones in fact…three years ago. Severus remembered she was a dunce in potions and was not at all surprised that she had ended up waiting tables.

"What can I get for you to drink professor? Hermione? Ginny? Luna?" She said each name in a question where it should have been more of a simple acknowledgement. The girls smiled and asked how she shad been. With a positive response, they ordered their drinks. Severus was highly tempted to order some hard liquor as the incessant prattling of the teens had given him a bit of a headache, but decided that getting drunk in front of his fiancee and two young friends, all his students, was probably not a good idea.

"I'll have a water." He requested lamely. And then went back to observing the environment. He saw all unfamiliar faces and didn't detect anything else out of order, something made him uncomfortable, and when an expert spy had a feeling, he wouldn't let it go. Severus spent a long time observing everything but could find nothing awry. He averted his attention from his surveyal only to order fish and chips and went back into his old book of spy tricks.

Hermione noticed he was absent but decided not to say anything as she knew he would not want to have attention on him, as she could tell he was practically melting into the nonexistent shadows. Hermione tried to get into the conversation once again and failed miserably. Honestly, she couldn't care less who was dating who, nor could Luna. But Ginny was content with filling the silence so everyone let her continue.

The waitress brought out the orders, four unimaginative servings of fish and chips, and Severus eyed everything on his and Hermione's plate, Hermione's first because he didn't want to alert her to unnecessary things like this. He watched as she cut her meal, looking for discoloration, inconsistency in texture, and poor scent in her food.

As the knife sliced into her food, it glowed a slight green for just a moment. Severus grabbed her hand to stop her from eating any of it. Hermione looked at him confusedly, this reminded her of how she felt when she bit into her food before partaking in prayer and her irritable family stopped her. Hermione felt confused. Severus held up a finger to her in an unnoticeable place and grabbed her fork. He sniffed it and took a long breath and looked at Hermione pointedly.

Now was time to play the role of couple that is in love. Screw the press, any contact they had in public would turn into an article any way, might as well make it boring as soon as possible. Severus slipped his arm around her, straightening out to his full height. He smiled a little and leaned his head behind hers so she could hear him clearly.

"Stay calm Hermione." his deep voice purred "Your food is laced, I'm afraid we may run into some trouble. Stay calm." Hermione slightly inclined her head. Ginny and Luna gave them odd looks for a moment but waved it off, it would be a conversation for later. "Have my food, do not touch yours."

Hermione looked at him, took a plate that had been placed for bread, split Severus' meal in two and took the smaller of the two on her plate and ate it. It was convenient that they had ordered the same thing. Severus cocked his eyebrow then grabbed a new set of silverware and slowly ate his food after testing it as well.

Severus wondered why anyone would try to slip a potion by a potions master but determined that it was probably someone with brains the equivalent of Crabbe. Severus would dissect everything later, he needed to get everyone out of this restaurant and back to Hogwarts where it was kind of safe.

Once the group had finished their food, Severus paid, careful to leave no tip. And walked with his arm around Hermione's waist while they made their way towards the door. No on was fool enough to approach Hermione while she was right on Severus' arm. They exited the establishment all safe and apparated directly to Hogwarts from there.

"Girls" He said addressing Ginny and Luna "Go to your common rooms." Severus ordered while he kept his grip on Hermione. Ginny and Luna ran off, not without Ginny giving Hermione a very pointed "We are soooo talking later" look and scampering off.

"How did you know someone spiked my food?" Hermione asked curiously. The fear from the event had sort of faded, She knew it would come back later but for now her know-it-all side took over.

"Your knife shone green for about half of a second. That happens when Lionfish poison and silver combine. Lionfish poision is…" Hermione cut him off

"undetectable by sight and scent." Hermione finished his sentence for him. Severus shot up an aggravated eyebrow but nodded.

"Everyone was correct in their assumption that your suitors would try to get revenge by other means." Severus said. "We will have to keep an eye out for anything else like that. You will stay with me during all of your free time and have at least two people walk you to your classes. Hermione" He said, commanding all of her attention. "This is serious and possibly fatal." Hermione nodded in understanding. Oh what a pleasant way to enjoy a weekend….nearly being killed by poison.

---x---

The ring I picture Hermione wearing is the Tiffany wedding band called the Tiffany Swing Ring, Look it up, it is quite stunning. I didn't know how to adequately describe it. It's the one row one.


End file.
